The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1887-05-14
GREAT ouAcks.
Medical Frauds Whose Names Are Re-
corded IN the Pages of History.

Medical Frauds Whose Names Are Re-
corded In the Pages of History.
The great London quack of the time
of Charles II. was DIR. Thomas Saeold.
He was or ginally a weaver. but adopt
ed the more paying business of pre-
tending to cure all d seases and profess
ing to foreten the desEnies of his pa
tients. The apothecar es of that time
not only acted as med cal quacks. but
also as fortune-tellers. Queen Anne
had weak eyes. and was an enthusiastic
patron of vulgar ignorance in the form
of eye-doctors. Two of them she fam
c:ed especially; and one of these, Will
lam Reade, she made a Baronet, al
though he was most wretchedly igno-
rant. as ssShort and Exact Account oil
All the Diseases Incident to the Eyes, "
which n publishe !. remains TO testify
Reade was worthless tailor, but he
stepped into a fashionable and paying
practice after he obtained the royal
favor. He was unable to read the hook
which he wrote (by the hano of a scr. .be).
but that made no difference to the
wealthy fools, his patrons. The
Queens other favorite euack oculst
was Roger Grant, a retired eosbier and
Anabaptist preacher. Grant was in the
habit of publish 'ng minute accounts of
h cures. mostly tissue of lies, but
with enough trGth interviewer to give
semblancs of probability. HIS favorite
plan was to secure some poor person
whose sight was lmlerfect, and after
giving him money and medicines for
few weeks persuade him TO sign test
mon.al that he had been born blind and
had never enjoyed the sense of sight
until Providence had Led him to Dr.
Grant, who had cured him in little more
than month. IL he could buy cer-
tificate from the clergymen and church
warden of the parish where the alleged
patient lived. to the effect that the testi-
monial was true, ye:y well; if he could
not OBJ ain genuine documents of this
KIND he could always find people to
force them for small sum. The recent
impudent cert ficates. apparently signed
by numerous prominent people, attest
ing the rtues of brand of Bit
ters made in an Eastern city.
show that the gu cks of this
order are st.Il to be found ply
ing Their infamous trade. The most
famous-and learned. for the time
physicians of that age, did not disdain
to deal in secret nostrums. Thus. Sir
Hans Sioane sold an eve salve, and DIR.
Meade remedy for hydrophobia- Con-
sequently the quacks were justified in
making what they could out of a public
which was not too intelligent to be
swindled BY their most renowned ply
sicians. The doctors, at least. had no
reasonable ground for compla MT. In
the 81 &c Gtog- for July %, 17l4, there is
an amusing account of a typ cal quack
of the period. and Steele has recorded
some capital anecdotes of these gentry.
One of them claimed he could cure
cataracts because he had lost an eve in
the Empercrs service This evidence
of ability was thought all sufficient by
the good people who patronized him.
One fellow. calling himself DR.. Katter-
felto, trave'ed about with large cage
contain ng number of black cats, which
seemed equal to a modern diploma in
the way of inspir ng confidence in his
powers. LO1ts Globe-DemDcrdt.